When I arrived at Shebeen, things were looking grim. It was only 45 minutes until Baio’s headline set was scheduled to start, and the room had only eight people in it (and two of those were members of support act Alta). However, by the time Baio took the stage, between 80 and 100 people had loaded in to see the solo electronic project of Vampire Weekend bass player Chris Baio.
The sparse few who were there for Alta were treated to 30 minutes of sophisticated UK-tinged dub courtesy of producer Julius Dowson and attitude-laden MC Hannah Lesser. Alta brought to mind post-dubstep acts such as Rudimental and SBTRKT.
Baio’s stage setup consisted of a mic stand and an indiscernible stack of equipment that was dressed in arabesque patterned scarves – one assumes it was some kind of sequencer and a synth or two. Baio’s music is a fascinating proposition: it’s too kooky to be ‘cool’ and too eclectic to slot into a specific dance sub-genre. Nevertheless, the performance managed to get almost everyone moving.
The set’s second song, Sister Of Pearl, initially got the crowd rocking. It’s an unashamed hat tip to Roxy Music’s Mother Of Pearl (featured on their 1973 release Stranded). After sequencing the beats of this song, Baio – dressed in a white blazer and shirt with navy-blue chinos – walked to centre stage and sang the song while dancing with a slightly ironic shimmy. It was fun stuff. Another of the set’s major highlights was an even more pointed reference the era that has clearly informed Baio’s sound: it was a cover of the Eurhythmics’ Here Comes The Rain Again.
Although supremely entertaining, there was a slight awkwardness as Baio shifted between singing from centre stage and being stuck behind his production desk. This failing was forgiven whenhe pointed out that tonight’s performance was his first ever headline show as Baio.
BY DAN WATT
Loved: Sister of Pearl.
Hated: The poor turnout for Alta.
Drank: Coke.
